I shoot people and then I ask questions

It was cold, rainy and dark and I had a long drive ahead of me

“The first time I volunteered for ChildLine was Christmas Day. That was the day that nobody wanted to do, and to be honest, I wasn’t hugely enthusiastic myself when I had to leave my warm family home. It was cold, rainy and dark and I had a long drive ahead of me. But as soon as I sat down I felt calm. I felt I was in the right place. In my two hour shift, I received four phone calls. When you work at ChildLine you’re talking to kids, so at the end of the of the conversation you don’t exactly expect a thank you; they’re only kids. But from those four phone calls, I heard the four most beautiful ‘thank you’s’ in my life. Those words were worth more than any gift under the Christmas tree.
I was abused as a child myself, and I wished there was someone to talk to then, so helping kids has been important to me. I was very young when I decided that’s what I would do. Ireland is still among the highest rates of childhood self-harm & suicide in Europe, meanwhile, the wait for access to public services is up to two years. And that is wrong and needs to change. We believe in intensive intervention therapy at Surgu, with a whole family approach instead of a labelling diagnosis and pharmaceutical model which is very slow, and simply doesn’t work. My vision for 2050 is obvious. I want to eliminate childhood depression and suicide completely. You can be sure I’ll take good care of it, but I’m not enough alone.”

Lorraine Lynch – Co. Founder Sugru Psychological Wellness Services

This interview is part of a collaborative campaign with Dublin Chamber.

Dublin Chamber is leading the way forward and needs our help in building the future of Dublin. Please take five minutes and tell us what do you want Dublin to be like for 2050. Click, fill, like and share: www.greatdublinsurvey.ie